One thought on “Trafficked”

1. I was intrigued by this book about a young woman from Moldova who willingly allows herself to be brought to the US to supposedly serve as a nanny to the family of a doctor so she can go to school to learn English. When she arrives she finds herself a slave to a woman who can’t pass the foreign doctor’s exam and a somewhat shady husband with ties to the Russian mafia. I had read adult novels on trafficking and wondered how this would compare. I have to say I was somewhat disappointed in the novel. Perhaps I am naïve, but Hannah, the protagonist is given several opportunities where she could have escaped. Perhaps the effect of “Stockholm Syndrome” is in effect here, but I found myself yelling at her in my head, just leave now! Barb

   I think I understand why Hannah didn’t leave when she had several opportunities to do so. First, she had been told many times that she could be arrested by the police if they discovered her immigrant status. So, she was afraid to be discovered by the police. When she is finally rescued she is amazed at how kind and helpful the police were to her. Second, her command of the English language was very poor. Third, she had no resources – no money, no friends, no knowledge of the place where she was living. If she had tried to escape where would she have gone, how would she taken care of herself? Marilyn

   I knew as I wrote my first part, that fear was a big role in why she stayed. I just wasn’t really convinced that the situation was that restrictive. I guess I read this with too much of my adult –reader mind. I’d really like to know what some high school students would think of the book. I’ll have to give it to my niece who is a great reader and going to be a freshman in high school to see what her reaction to it would be. I still feel a little frustrated. Barb

   I will look forward to seeing what your niece thought. I made lots of connections between the books, Sold by Patricia McCormick and Trafficked. The girls in Trafficked and Sold are similar in that they both want to help their families and are duped into being trafficked. I can imagine how such girls lack the knowledge that might have protected them. Sold was one the novels my college students reading in our Global Literature class. It really made a powerful impact on them. I would be interested in how the students would respond to Trafficked. I just saw the film, Whistle Blower. It was also about trafficking. The film has some major flaws, but it does show how the enslaved girls can’t break out of their situation because of overwhelming fear (which is shown to be realistic since several girls who try to escape are beaten and even killed.) Books like Sold and Trafficked show teens the terrible costs of trafficking. I highly recommend both titles. Marilyn

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   May 16, 2012 at 2:01 pm